Political Quotes

“I was talking about the Simon amendment and the fact that almost every State in the Union would go broke if they had to live by what this amendment is asking the Federal Government to live by because every State has off-budget capital expenditures, and some of these expenditures that are off budget are more than capital expenditures, as I see them. Pension liabilities are off budget. So let us not get lost in this argument here in the next few days about, 'We do it in my State. Why cannot we do it here?' Those who make that statement should understand they better check with their Governor and their legislature because if those States had to live by the Simon amendment, they could not do it. Something similar to the Reid amendment they could because it is reasonable, it is rational, and it is doable. So States could not live by it. Mr. President, Members of this Senate, who, generally speaking, are above the mean as far as average wages in this country, to say the least, I will bet most every Senator who has bought a home is paying for it on time. There may be a few in this body who can pay cash for a home, but not too many. Under the Simon amendment, if we asked families throughout America to live by it, they could not.”